Jayson Tatum Responds To Jaylen Brown Snub With Runaway Celtics Win Over 76ers Paced By Paul George's 36 Points

Jaylen Brown delivered the opening message with a pregame snub Tuesday night. But it was Jayson Tatum, Paul George and the Boston Celtics who got the last word in a runaway 123-101 win over Brown's Philadelphia 76ers.

The game marked the anticipated first meeting between Tatum and Brown since their highly publicized split as Celtics teammates. The pair led Boston to an NBA championship, but are off to a bitter start as rivals after Brown's offseason trade to the 76ers.

Tatum got the best of Brown in the blowout win with 21 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Brown got into early foul trouble with three first-half fouls and struggled to get much of anything going. He finished with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 turnovers.

In the end, it was George who took on the starring role against his former team. George was part of the return from Philadelphia in the deal to acquire Brown from the Celtics. He caught fire and led all scorers with 36 points and five rebounds while shooting 14 of 22 from the field and 6 of 11 from 3.

Brown opens with pregame snub of Tatum

The tension was on display from the opening tip as Brown openly snubbed Tatum in front of 20,000-plus fans in Philadelphia and a national TV audience. Brown said prior to Tuesday's highly anticipated 76ers-Celtics game that he didn't intend to speak with Tatum.

He was true to his word.

As players took the court before tipoff, Tatum approached his former Celtics teammate in an effort to dap Brown up. Brown, who was busy spinning the basketball, acted like Tatum didn't exist.

Tatum then moved on to Brown's teammate, LeBron James, who was happy to share some pregame love with his rival before getting down to the business of basketball.

It was awkward to say the least and left Tatum standing at midcourt next to Brown like a man who'd just been left hanging.

The ball was then mercifully tipped to break the pregame tension. After the game, Brown told reporters he was simply trying to focus rather than snub Tatum, via ESPN’s Kris Rhim:

“I’m just focused on coming out and doing what’s best for my team. Everything else was just — to be honest, I wasn’t paying attention. But credit to Jayson, he played well tonight. Credit to the Celtics, they executed, shot the hell out of the ball. They were the better team tonight.”

Tatum, Celtics take, keep control

When the game action started, it was Tatum who struck the first blow. In their first one-on-one matchup of the game, Brown sized Tatum up from the wing beyond the 3-point arc. Tatum smothered him and poked the ball away off Brown and out of bounds for a turnover.

Tatum went on to score 11 first-quarter points as the Celtics finished the frame with a 30-23 lead.

Tatum dunks on LeBron

From there Tatum and Brown spent much of the game guarding each other when they shared the court. But Tatum made his biggest mark on the game with a poster dunk on James in the second half as the 76ers were closing the gap from a 13-point third-quarter deficit.

The 76ers did battle back to tie the game at 76. But hot Celtics 3-point shooting paced by George opened the game up down the stretch as Boston opened its lead to as much as 25 points.

The Celtics shot 50.5% from the field and 44.9% (22 of 45) from 3 while holding the 76ers to 41.8% shooting and a 29.7% clip (11 of 37) from 3.

Tyrese Maxey led the 76ers with 24 points. James tallied 11 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists while shooting 1 of 6 from 3. Joel Embiid had 16 points and 6 rebounds while shooting 2 of 9 from the field.

The end result was a blowout win for the Celtics (9-2) to overtake the 76ers (9-3) for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

No postgame interaction between Tatum, Brown

When it was over, Brown shared hugs with several of his former Celtics teammates. But he walked off the court without acknowledging Tatum as Tatum gave a postgame interview to NBC.

Tatum, meanwhile, didn't say Brown's name in his interview while downplaying the meaning of Tuesday's win.

"They all count as one," Tatum said of the game result. "No game is bigger than the other, definitely in the regular season. It's one game. It's one game. The hoopla is definitely over, and we get ready for tomorrow."

How much bad blood is there really?

Considering the chatter leading up to Tuesday's game, Brown's cold reception to Tatum was expected.

Tatum has downplayed any friction with his former All-NBA teammate.

"There's no animosity, there's no beef," Tatum said previously when talking about his relationship with Brown.

For Brown, who was vocal about his multitude of grievances before the Celtics traded him in the offseason, there's clearly beef. Or lamb chops, as he prefers.

"There's no beef, but there might be a little lamb chops and gravy," Brown previously opined on his relationship with Tatum.

Brown doubled down on Sunday that he doesn't have anything to talk about with Tatum.

"I mean, he's on his side, I'm on my side," Brown said, per ESPN's Kris Rhim. "Just playing basketball. Both of us are trying to win, so nothing to talk about. Just check the ball up."

Check the ball up, they did — this time in favor of Tatum and the Celtics.